The growing divide: the marginalisation of young Roma children in Bulgaria

This article evaluates how evolving social policies for very young children and their families affect the marginalisation of Roma children from mainstream Bulgarian society. The Roma (or ‘gypsies’) have long been ostracised by various societies and since the fall of communism in 1989 have become inc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of social welfare 2009-01, Vol.18 (1), p.65-75
Main Author: Gatenio Gabel, Shirley
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bulgaria
child and family policy
child benefits
Children
Children & youth
Economic growth
Families & family life
Family policy
Gypsies
Marginality
Poverty
Rom
Roma
Romani people
Social policy
Social security
Social services
Social welfare
transition
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Summary:This article evaluates how evolving social policies for very young children and their families affect the marginalisation of Roma children from mainstream Bulgarian society. The Roma (or ‘gypsies’) have long been ostracised by various societies and since the fall of communism in 1989 have become increasingly vulnerable to income poverty and social exclusion. The exclusion of Roma threatens Bulgaria's economic and political growth because the Roma constitute an increasing proportion of the population. The article compares the effects of current child and family policies on modifying the social and economic differences between very young Roma children under the age of three and those of majority Bulgarian children. It demonstrates how both universal social policies directed at helping all children and policies targeted on helping the most deprived children in a population, can, because of previous employment and other factors, further marginalise the most disadvantaged children in a population.
ISSN:1369-6866
1468-2397
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2397.2008.00562.x